As we are sure everyone has by now heard, our mountain and our community took quite the hit from mother nature this July. While the team here at Okemo continues to progress through our daily clean up (see the photos below), we want to reach out to all of you who have been personally impacted as well. Recovery is never an overnight quick fix, but a day by day process. For those needing any support, please do not hesitate to reach out to anyone on the the Ski and Ride School team and/or the Okemo-wide team. There are also resources available to you and your family including mental health resources through our Employee Assistance Program and EpicPromise Employee Hardship Grants. Please be aware that anyone in your household, including roommates, are eligible for our Employee Assistance Program and that you can refer coworkers for an EpicPromise Employee Hardship Grant. 

Our EpicPromise team is coordinating the relief efforts for impacted employees and working with local nonprofits. If you wish to contribute to the EpicPromise Foundation, which is providing support to coworkers impacted by this flood and other team members in times of crisis, you can donate here.

We continue to be inspired by how both the Okemo and Ludlow communities have come together to support and help each other in any way we can. This event has shown how vital the connection between Okemo and Ludlow truly is, as we continue to find ways to help our community members and businesses.

The Ski and Ride School Team

Keri is moving on to a new role with PSIA as their Director of Education and Programs for the Eastern Region. Keri started teaching at Okemo in 2010 and quickly moved up the ranks earning alpine certifications in the Canadian Ski Instructors Alliance Alpine (CSIA), The Professional Ski Instructors of America (PSIA) as well as earning several certifications earlier in her career while living in Japan. Keri started with the PSIA/AASI Eastern Education staff in 2016 and joined the Eastern Team in 2019.

Keri has been an invaluable part of our management team here at Okemo for the past 5 seasons. Her drive to provide the best experience for our guests and employees combined with her passion for snow sports and personal improvement will certainly be missed here at Okemo.  We wish Keri all the best in her new endeavor.  Keri and Pete will continue to live in Ludlow, VT and hopefully we’ll see her in instructor blue on a part time basis this winter at Okemo!

It is bittersweet to move into my new role with PSIA/AASI Eastern. On the one hand, I will miss getting to work and play alongside the whole Okemo SRS Team daily. On the other hand, I am incredibly excited for this next adventure supporting the Eastern Region membership, which includes so many of the Okemo crew. I want to thank all of my colleagues for the growth and camaraderie that I experienced over the years. There is something truly special about this team, which is why I look forward to making some appearances in the blue jacket moving forward!

Keryn Meierdiercks, our Sr. Administrative Assistant of Skier Services, will also be moving on to a new role. We are lucky to have Keryn staying within our company in the newly created role of Resort Analyst for Okemo. Keryn has been in her current role for just over a year and has excelled in many areas of her position, particularly in navigating all of our software platforms and cross functional collaboration. She has been instrumental in the instructor onboarding process and I can guarantee she has helped many of you navigate the many hurdles you encountered before your first day of work.

In her new analyst role, the focus will be on Workforce Management across departments within Mountain, Hospitality, and VRR divisions at Okemo. Keryn began her role as Okemo's resort analyst on Monday 7/23/23. We all wish Keryn the best in her new role.

We will be cancelling the Taps and Taste event scheduled for August 5th. This was a tough but right decision, as the Ludlow community and the Okemo team work towards recovering from the flooding we have seen in the past couple of weeks. This event will not be rescheduled for this year, but will return for the 2024 summer.

For the 2023-24 winter season, Vail Resorts is offering a $300 referral bonus to employees who refer a candidate to any of our instructor roles this season! For employees to be eligible for the bonus, candidates must have never previously worked for Vail Resorts and must input the referring employee's name and employee ID in their application.

Please click here to find out the conditions and process for receiving this bonus.

All of our instructor job postings are officially live and can be applied to via here. 

To help us plan and prepare for a great season, 
the first deadline for you is to complete your intent to return by August 25, 2023.

If you have any questions about the season ahead, please reach out via email to: OkemoSkiSchoolStaff@vailresorts.com and we'll be happy to connect and answer any questions.

Please use the link below to complete your intent to return form (password: 2021snow). We look forward to hearing your responses and welcoming you back this winter!

Did you know that all of our SIS employees are entitled to summer benefits? Please see below for what they include:

The Jackson Gore Summer Music Series  will be happening every Friday through to September 1st from 6pm-9pm. These are free concerts set in the Jackson Gore courtyard and you are encouraged to bring in your own chairs and/or blankets. This year we will have an outdoor bbq/bar starting at 5:30pm and you are also welcome to bring in your own food and non-alcoholic drinks. Coleman Brook Tavern and some Adventure Zone activities will remain open throughout the concert.

Stowe Mountain Resort is celebrating 100 years of the legendary Auto Toll Road. The historic road winds 4.5 miles up Vermont’s highest peak, Mount Mansfield, and offers views of the trails and town below, nearby Lake Champlain, and the neighboring Adirondack mountains. The team at Stowe is honoring the anniversary with this video to teach us more about the road’s history. You can also catch a glimpse of the famous views in this short video.  

Summer is here in the US and Canada, but our Australian teammates are just getting their winter seasons started. Perisher, Falls Creek and Hotham are open for the season and their snow dances are working. Happy skiing and riding to our team members in Australia!   

Have you ever wondered what happens to snowsports gear that needs to be retired? Our colleagues at Vail Resorts Retail and the Vail Resorts sourcing teams are demonstrating our core value Do Good by working together to improve the product end-of-lifecycle solutions for retired snowsports equipment. Our company is partnering with ReCircled, an end-of-life recycler for products, to help us keep our used equipment out of landfills. When rental and used helmets and poles need to be retired from our fleets, they can be recycled into composite material for new products, including clothing hangers.  

Stay tuned for more updates as this program develops out of the testing phase and we continue to reduce our company waste as part of our Commitment to Zero.